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New
Year is a Bundle of 'bidi'
and Stray Dog for Warmth
by Prashant K. Nanda
New
Delhi, Jan 1 (IANS) While the fortunate spent New Year's Eve dancing
at midnight parties, feasting on delicacies or watching TV from
inside warm quilts, for over 150,000 homeless in the national
capital it was just another day of a numbing battle for survival.
"New Year holds no meaning for me. It's just another day of begging
and sleeping on the pavement. Celebration and festivals are for rich
people... We just look at them and curse our own fate," said Rahat
Ali, who sleeps on the pavement near the Delhi Zoo with just a thin
blanket and tattered clothes to protect him from the bitter chill
and thick fog.
"This year New Year and the Eid are on the same day but I am not
happy about it. When you have no home or income... how can you
enjoy? Sab Allah jane," the 62-year-old Ali, who even found
it difficult to stand straight, told IANS.
Ali was just one of the thousands of homeless in Delhi who feel that
New Year or any other special day for that matter make a mockery of
their own daily struggle for sheer survival.
For Raghu, Rakesh and Islam Ali, who have been sleeping under a
flyover in Sarai Kale Khan for several months, a midnight party
often means just sharing a bundle of bidi.
"We collect plastic from garbage dumps in the nearby areas and
return in the evening to sleep under the flyover. New Year, Diwali
or Eid makes no difference to our life. When the three of us
together can manage to earn no more than Rs.40 a day, how can we
take a room on rent?" asked Raghu while lighting a bidi.
All of them are from Bihar and have been in Delhi for the last five
years.
"We are close friends and help each other in whatever way possible.
Earlier, we slept near the Red Fort in old Delhi but the police
tortured us too much. They used to pick us from the pavement
accusing us of being thieves. Life just goes on somehow," said
17-year-old Islam philosophically.
Added Rakesh: "For us New Year means a bundle of bidi, and a dog is
our fourth mate."
However, all pavement dwellers are not that despairing.
"I am not hopeless. My child is now four years old and he will go to
school this year," said Alka, 37, holding her baby boy close to her
chest.
"It's too cold for the last few days and my son is suffering from
fever. Though I earn my livelihood by begging, I believe I will get
some permanent work," she said, adding that in the last 12 days she
has earned over Rs.300 by cleaning plates in several road side
eateries.
"Once my son gets admitted to a school, I can think of going out for
more work," said Alka, who sleeps in front of glittering shops in
Lajpat Nagar, a major shopping destination for the middle class.
And as the temperature dips, these homeless just feel every dipping
degree in their bones as they scrounge for ways to stay warm in a
city that offers little refuge.
It's a harsh life that has just got worse for children like
10-year-old Saguna, who shivered near a traffic post holding
balloons in her hand while hoping to attract a child inside a heated
car on a darkening evening in south Delhi.
"Every day I sell balloons till 10 p.m. and sleep under an awning
near the pavement. I sold 20 balloons today," said Saguna, dressed
in tattered clothing and with only one worn blanket as cover.
"Though I want to wear warm clothes, my mother does not allow me to
stay inside the tent. She wants me to stay out and sell balloons to
help my mother in earning a livelihood for our family," she said.
Happy New Year!
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